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Coca-Cola’s operating margin improved significantly to 15.2% in 4Q15 from 13.3% in the comparable quarter of the previous year.

National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) net debt increased 4% in 1Q17 over 1Q16. Its net debt amounted to ~$1.7 billion in 1Q17.

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY) is currently developing three investigational therapies—Patisiran, Revusiran, and ALN-TTRsc02—for the treatment of patients with hereditary ATTR amyloidosis.

Coffee lovers in the United States are boosting ready-to-drink coffee volumes.

AbbVie (ABBV) plans to complete its Phase 3 registrational program for investigational next-generation Hepatitis C virus (or HCV) therapy by 2016.

As of January 28, 2016, PepsiCo (PEP) was trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of 20.6x.

National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) total debt decreased ~18% in 4Q16 over 4Q15. Its cash and marketable securities decreased 31% during the same period.

Biogen’s investigational Alzheimer’s disease drug, aducanumab, is one of the four therapies accepted in the EMA’s Priority Medicines program (or PRIME).

Schlumberger’s (SLB) net debt rose 65% in 1Q17—compared to 1Q16. Its net debt was ~$11.7 billion in 1Q17.

Baker Hughes’s (BHGE) North America segment saw 16.5% higher revenues from 2Q16 to 2Q17.

The ARMOURY stores will cater to the premium segment of the market. They’ll also feature UA product exclusives and occasional visits from star athletes.

Sprint’s chief financial officer Tarek Robbiati discussed this second reason for the company’s 50% discount promotion.

Lowe’s (LOW) expects the Rona (RON.TO) transaction to be accretive to its earnings per share or EPS from the very first year after the acquisition.

Macy’s (M) has missed consensus Wall Street sales estimates in each of the first three quarters of fiscal 2015, which will end January 30, 2016.

Sprint’s revenues also declined 3% on a quarter-over-quarter basis by $255 million due to lower revenues in the equipment and wireless revenue segments.

VF Corporation (VFC) expects margins to improve in 2015, coming in at 49.3% compared to 48.8% in 2014. Margins have been expanding over the past few quarters.

George Soros added 2.026 million shares of the SPDR Select Sector Fund (XLF) to its portfolio during the fourth quarter, giving it a weight of 1.5% in the portfolio.

Tesla (TSLA) has been one of the handful of positive-return-yielding stocks in the fourth quarter so far.

Before Tesla, many automakers launched limited-production electric models only to discontinue them soon after.

On December 26, 2017, 78% of the Wall Street analysts tracking Weatherford International rated it a “buy” or some equivalent.

In this article, we’ll look Wall Street’s call and target price for Weatherford International (WFT) on September 12.

Does National Oilwell management see a recovery in 2017? National Oilwell Varco (NOV) management identified strong US onshore activity and weak offshore energy exploration and production activity as the drivers behind its changing revenue mix in 2Q17. In the company’s 2Q17 conference call, chairman and CEO Clay C. Williams stated that “much of our business […]

Baker Hughes’s (BHGE) CFO (cash from operating activities) remained negative in 2Q17, continuing its negative cash flow trend in 1Q17.

National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) management expressed concern over upstream energy companies’ lower capex spending, which is negative for the oilfield services companies.

In this article, we’ll look Wall Street analysts’ recommendations for Weatherford International (WFT) as of June 7, 2017.

On May 9, 2017, Boston Scientific (BSX) announced the FDA approval of its Resonate family of products, including its ICD and CRT-D systems.

Let’s take a look at some of the projects that could affect National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) returns going forward.

National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) management expects upstream activity in North America’s shale plays to improve in 2017.

On March 1, ~71% of the analysts tracking Weatherford International rated it as a “buy,” ~20% rated it as a “hold,” and the rest rated it as a “sell.”

For fiscal 1Q17, AMAT expects its non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) gross margin to rise 43.8% from 43.7% in fiscal 4Q16.

Unlike Biogen (BIIB) and Eli Lilly, who have focused their attention on amyloid-beta based therapeutics, AbbVie (ABBV) is reluctant to enter this field.

Together, AbbVie (ABBV) and Neurocrine Biosciences (NBIX) aim to develop Elagolix as a minimally invasive yet effective therapy for uterine fibroids

Of Medtronic’s ~$7.3 billion in worldwide revenues in fiscal 2Q17, ~$2.6 billion came from Medtronic’s CVG segment, representing ~35% of the company total.

On June 24, 2016, Pfizer (PFE) announced that it had completed the acquisition of Anacor Pharmaceuticals for a total net value of $5.2 billion. The acquisition added crisaborole.

On September 30, 2016, National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) share price was 10% higher compared to December 31, 2015.

National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) management expects most of the upstream recovery in North America to take place in 2H17.

National Oilwell Varco’s (NOV) net debt (total debt less cash & marketable securities) fell 20% in 3Q15.

Since January 2015, Amgen has traded at a premium to Gilead Sciences (GILD) but at a significant discount to peers Biogen (BIIB) and Celgene (CELG).

After the release of the FOMC’s November statement, Bill Gross said that monetary policy in the United States is steadily moving toward normalization, though its pace is slow.

Medivation has added its robust research pipeline with two promising investigational drugs, Talazoparib and Pidilizumab, to Pfizer’s oncology portfolio.

On September 20, 2016, Medtronic posted its new safety and efficacy data for its Valiant Captivia Thoracic Stent Graft System.

AbbVie (ABBV) expects to file a biologics license application for Rova-T as a third-line therapy for small cell lung cancer (or SCLC) in 2017.

TJX Companies anticipates its TJX Canada segment to deliver same-store sales growth of 7%–8% in fiscal 2017 and sales of $3.1 billion–$3.2 billion.

Gilead Sciences reported diluted earnings per share (or EPS) of about $3.08 in 2Q16, which is a year-over-year (or YoY) decline of 2.2%.

As of July 22, 2016, Air Products and Chemicals (APD) was trading at a one-year forward PE multiple of 18.8x compared to its peers Praxair and FMC.

We could see fewer jobs added going forward. If this trend continues, bond (AGG) (BND) yields could most likely stay low.

A QE program doesn’t just create inflation; it causes asset prices to rise as well. After the financial crisis of 2008, the Fed resorted to an ultra-accommodative monetary policy.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) registered sales of approximately $6.4 billion in its Medical Devices business in 2Q16.

Estée Lauder (EL) ended calendar 1Q16 with a 3.5% rise in inventory.

A robust pipeline and strong R&D (research and development) capabilities are expected to drive significant revenue growth for JNJ’s Medical Devices segment.

As part of its restructuring initiative, Micron would only focus on critical projects and cut 2,400 jobs.

Amazon (AMZN), in order to keep its Prime membership popular, is offering two unlocked Android smartphones exclusively priced for Prime members.

Take-Two Interactive Software’s (TTWO) most successful franchise, Grand Theft Auto (or GTA), has sold over 235 million units worldwide.

Medtronic’s (MDT) Restorative Therapies Group (or RTG) segment, formed around seven years ago, has a strong market position today.

Now in its phase-1 clinical trial, AbbVie’s PF-06647020, an ADC targeting protein kinase 7 could become a major therapy for advanced solid tumors.

During Cypress’s fiscal 1Q16 earnings call, CEO Thurman John Rodgers explained that Broadcom offloaded the wireless IoT segment for two reasons.

Analog Devices (ADI) has been using M&A (mergers and acquisitions) to rapidly expand its technology offerings and boost its revenue.

As Xilinx increases its share in the PLD market, a key will be its success in the long term is its competitive positioning compared to rival Altera.

Texas Instruments (TXN) has increased its exposure in the automotive, industrial, and communications segments, which accounted for 64% of the company’s revenue in fiscal 1Q16.

Boston Scientific’s (BSX) MedSurg segment contributes around 33% to the company’s total revenues and is the company’s second-largest segment.

Celgene has been working on its immunomodulatory backbone drugs to develop combination therapies for use in treating all lines of multiple myeloma.

UnitedHealth Group’s healthcare delivery business, OptumHealth, managed to earn $4 billion revenues in 1Q16, which represents a YoY growth of about 22%.

In fiscal 1Q16, Intel’s non-GAAP revenues rose by 8% YoY to $13.8 billion, missing the analyst estimate of $13.83 billion, which was a conservative one.

With Zen, AMD looks poised to regain some share in the server and PC processor market. The question that remains is twofold: how much, and for how long?

Generally recognized as the world’s best-selling international cigarette, Marlboro accounted for 33.7% of the company’s total shipment volume in 2015.

Still beverage volumes gained strength in 4Q15 as consumers continued to shift from sugary soda beverages to healthier options.

AbbVie (ABBV) has been actively expanding Humira’s label and expects to earn annual revenues worth $18 billion from the sales of the drug in 2020.

Buffett said that it has been a terrible mistake to bet against America, not only for the past 240 years but even now. He believes that America’s emphasis on innovation and strength in commerce will continue to provide strong gains for its people.

PepsiCo (PEP) reported a gross margin of 54.9% in 4Q15, which ended December 26, 2015, up from 53.1% in the comparable quarter of the previous year.

According to Wall Street analyst consensus, AT&T’s postpaid churn is expected to decline YoY (year-over-year) in 4Q15

Nordstrom (JWN) has aggressively expanded into the off-price space through its Nordstrom Rack stores.

Monster Beverage enjoys huge popularity on social media. It has 24 million fans on Facebook (FB), 2.8 million fans on Twitter (TWTR), and 2.6 million fans on Instagram.

Apart from acquisitions to further push the chances of Watson Health’s success in the healthcare space, IBM has partnered with Apple (AAPL), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), and Medtronic (MDT).

At the Beverage Digest Future Smarts Conference on December 14, PepsiCo announced its plan to launch an organic version of Gatorade, its sports drink brand.

In 2014, GoPro came out as one of the fastest growing companies. Its price rose more than 100%. Investors drove the price to $93.0 in September 2014.

Coca-Cola began refranchising to reduce its exposure to low-margin, capital-intensive bottling operations, creating a more asset-light model.

Unlike common equities (RSP)(IWB), a rising interest rate scenario doesn’t necessarily affect preferred stocks negatively.

At its 2015 Investor Day held on October 14, Nike’s (NKE) CEO, Mark Parker, announced a new innovation hub, called the Nike Advanced Product Creation Center.

Dish Network has a significant proportion of mid-band, AWS (advanced wireless services) spectrum holdings. However, Verizon won’t buy the company.

On September 25, 2015, Sprint launched a low-price promotional offer with a trade-in option for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Hum’s features include diagnostic automobile service, roadside assistance, and voice support. It’s priced at $14.99 per month for the first vehicle.

According to Verizon, it had more than 15 million connections of IoT, or Internet of Things, in 2014.

The US Census Bureau’s latest report revealed a 0.8% decline in July US department store sales, compared to June 2015. Sales showed YoY declines of 2.7%.

Sprint’s churn rate of postpaid customers declined from ~2.05% in 1Q14 to ~1.56% in 1Q15. Better network performance was a key factor.

By 2018, AT&T expects multiple cost synergies from the DIRECTV merger in its supply chain, operations and general administration, and content acquisition.

Although IoT and Telematics is a growing segment at Verizon, it’s still small in terms of revenue. In 2014, Verizon’s IoT and Telematics revenue was ~$585 million.

T-Mobile’s average revenue per user in 2Q15 In the earlier parts of this series, we learned about T-Mobile’s (TMUS) significant revenue growth in 2Q15. Revenue increased by ~13.8% YoY (year-over-year) to ~$8.2 billion during the quarter. We learned that this solid growth was driven by both service and equipment revenue. We also learned about how robustly the carrier’s […]

Sprint’s free cash flow for 1Q15 was -$2.2 billion, compared to -$496 million in 1Q14. Cash flow decreased YoY due to unfavorable changes in working capital coupled with high capex.

Sprint’s cost of products for 1Q15 declined $793 million YoY to $1.4 billion due to lower non-lease sales volumes. This occurred because customer preferences shifted toward device leasing options.

T-Mobile’s service revenue increased by ~12% YoY to reach ~$6.1 billion in 2Q15. The postpaid and prepaid segments continued to fuel service revenue growth during the quarter.

In 1Q15, retail sales for Sprint were 7.3 million compared to 6.3 million in 1Q14 and 7.9 million in 4Q14.

The growth in equipment revenue was driven by the rising adoption of Verizon’s Edge plan. The plan’s popularity continued to grow during 2Q15.

The AT&T–DIRECTV merger agreement was signed in May 2014. At the time, the companies believed the transaction could produce ~$1.6 billion in annual cost synergies.

PanAgora and Renaissance Technologies are both investment management firms that use a quantitative-based investment approach.

CVS Health (CVS) expects Retail Pharmacy sales growth between 0.5% and 2% year-over-year in 2Q15. Total same-store sales are expected to be in the range of -1.25% to 0.25%.

T-Mobile’s average billings per user (or ABPU) is a measure of postpaid subscribers’ unit contributions. We expect the growth trend in T-Mobile’s ABPU to continue in 2Q15.

Recently, T-Mobile started a 10GB plan for families. The T-Mobile 10GB family plan for four lines costs less than a similar Verizon More Everything plan, according to T-Mobile.

Under Armour (UA) reported a 33% year-over-year increase in direct-to-consumer (or DTC) sales in 2Q15.

As of July 24, 2015, Wall Street expects an average 4.3% year-over-year fall in Sprint’s wireless revenue in 1Q15. This is probably due to the company’s declining service revenue.

The T-Mobile deal would give Dish the opportunity to gain from the growth of the fourth-largest US wireless carrier. Dish could use T-Mobile’s expertise to deploy its spectrum holdings.